Improved cemeht hoofing



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ROBERT O. LOWREY, OF SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK. Leners Parent No.63,803, dated April ie,l 1867.

IMPROVED CEMENT ROOFING..

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONOERN:

Be it known that ROBERT O. LOWREY, of Saratoga Springs, in the county ofSaratoga, and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and usefulimprovements in Cement Roofing, 32e.; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings7 making part of thisspecification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, likeletters indicating like parts Wherever they occur.

i To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my inventionI will proceed to describe it.

My invention consists in providing a plastic foundation for cementroofing, to be used as a substitute for the prepared felt or paper nowgenerally used for spreading the cement upon.

The drawing represents a section of a roof to show the manner ofconstructing it with my improvement.

Hitherto a fibrous material, known as roofing felt, has been used as afoundation on which to spread the cement in making composition forroofs. To the use of this felt there are several objections: itisexpensive, not to be had conveniently in the country places, and, whenapplied, does not absorb the surplus tar, which, when melted by the heatof the sun, runs off. To obviate these difficulties I construct thefoundation for my roofing by spreading upon the roof-boards C a coatingof sand and lime, or sand and clay, or marl mixed with water and formedinto a pasty mass of suitable consistence for` convenient use. Ifdesired, hair 'may be added to the'p'lastic mass, the same as withmortar. In preparing the roof for this foundation the boards C areplaced A so as to leave small cracks between them, as shown in thedrawing; or, instead of boards, narrow strips may be used. When theplastic mass is spread on the boards portionsof it pass down into thecracks, and thus securely fasten the coating a to the roof without theuse of nails or any other fastenings, and avoiding the necessity ofmaking any holes in it. When dried, this constitutes a foundation forreceiving the cement, that answers the purpose better than felt,'inasmuch as, being porous, it absorbs the surplus coal tar of therooting cement which is spread upon it, thereby accomplishing thetwofold objects of preventing the tar from ruiming oil' when heated orchecking, and at the same time, by the absorption of the tar, itselfbecomes water-proof. With a porous foundation of this kind any of theknown kinds of roofingcement may bc used, though I prefer that describedin my patent of February 5, 1867.

A roof of this kind can be prepared quickly and cheaply, as thematerials which compose the foundation can be readily obtained wherevera house is built, and requires no skilled laborers or special machineryfor its preparation.

Havingd thus described my invention, what I claim, is

A plastic foundation for roofs to receive, hold, and absorb more or lessof the roofing cement, constructed and applied substantially as setforth. i

ROBT O. LOWREY.

Witnesses: i

W. C. DODGE, E. R. Fnnnrs.

